In The Sims 4, Wants and Fears are a game-changing feature. Influenced in real-time by the actions and consequences of the world around you, your Sim could find themselves with a devastating fear of flames after experiencing a house fire – or develop a fear of being cheated on after underperforming at WooHoo with their partner.

Related: The Sims 4 Werewolves: Fated Mates, Explained

Whims are a thing of the past, and you’ll develop an extra Want after acquiring one of almost 20 Fears. Here’s a look at how the new system operates.

Updated April 26, 2023 by Vaspaan Dastoor: It’s been a while since Wants and Fears came to Sims 4, and most people may have got their heads around it. But it’s still a tricky system and some players may need a bit of help. We’ve updated this guide to our current style and formatting standards to help you out.

How Do Wants Work?

Remember Whims? Those little thought bubbles hovering by your Sim’s head in the lower toolbar, which served as optional Wants, earning you Reward points in the process? Well, those have been scrapped in favour of reviving their more powerful predecessors.

Wants are urges and desires your Sim develops over the course of their day. Depending upon your mood, relationships, job performance, and more, your impulses will lead your Wants in different directions day by day.

Sometimes your Wants will be influenced by low Needs, such as wanting to bathe if you’re feeling grungy from low Hygiene. Other times, you may want to get flirty with the neighbours after being introduced to a titillating new acquaintance.

To save a Want from being refreshed, you can click the thumbtack icon next to it to pin one Want at a time if you’re planning to fulfill it eventually.

How Do Sims 4 Wants Differ From The Sims 2?

Unlike in The Sims 2, neglecting to pay attention to or fulfill wants will cause your Sim to develop a fear of unfulfilled dreams. This seems to be a way for the game to steer you toward incorporating Wants and Fears into your regular gameplay.

Wants and Fears were a dedicated part of The Sims 2 from the get-go, with them being featured in their own panel below the Needs menu. Much like the Wants and Fears system, The Sims 4 Whims used to be on a toggle, giving you the ability to opt-out of them for a less autonomous experience if you wanted to focus more on creating storylines without the guidance of in-game RNG.

Wants and Fears can also be dictated by any active Traits or occult-type specifics pertaining to your Sim. Vampires shouldn’t be afraid of the dark, for example, and won’t want to visit the beach, whilst Paranoid Sims will be warier of crowded spaces.

If you see a spiky-edged Want, this is an opportunity for your Sim to challenge an active Fear of theirs to get rid of any debuffs incurred by said Fears, such as the Uncomfortable moodlet that becomes active for Sims in busy places if they have a fear of crowds. We will go over each Fear and how to face them below.

How To Change Your Wants In The Sims 4

If you’ve tried to meet the wacky whims of your Sims and just can’t seem to measure up with these unattainable goals, there is a way to encourage the game to refresh your Wants with different ones.

To do this, enter the Settings menu, go to the Gameplay tab, and toggle the ‘Show Wants & Fears’ button off and on again. This should give you a whole new set of Wants to work with; hopefully, you’ll have more luck with them.

How Do Fears Work?

Fears are temporary Traits that appear in your Simology panel alongside regular and acquired Traits that you gain over time.

Much like Traits influence how your Sim feels under certain social or personal situations, Fears will negatively impact your Sim or make them more susceptible to negative moodlets that would not otherwise be triggered without Fear.

Unlike in The Sims 2, you will not wake up with new Fears each day, but rather will gain them passively as your Sim experiences life. This means that your Fears will only go away under specific circumstances – and that you could end up with far more than only three Fears at any given time.

To get rid of Fears, you’ll have to face them head-on. If you don’t, your Sim will experience stronger and stronger negative moodlets that will incapacitate their normal day-to-day lives.

Note that your Sim might experience these Fears with or without the described triggers, and these triggers could be affected by current issues that have yet to be patched out. For example, you cannot get rid of your fear of fire by extinguishing the same fire that gave you the fear in the first place.

All Sims 4 Fears And How To Face Them

As more Fears get patched into the game, we will discover more ways for your Sims to become petrified by the world around them.

Some High School Years-specific Fears include:

• Fear Of Homework
• Fear Of Exams
• Fear Of Failing After-School Activity
• Fear Of Disappointing Parents
• Fear of Disappointing Dead Parents

How To Mod Fears Out In The Sims 4

Your Sim’s mood is at an all-time low, they’re terrified of their child’s birthday party, and they can’t go and fetch the mail because it’s dark outside. You could just disable the Wants and Fears system using the Gameplay menu in your Settings window, but where’s the fun in that when you can just patch out the bits you’re not enjoying?

When all else fails, and you’re sick of being brave, the following mods are here to save the day:

• Get Rid Of Your Fears: A mod that creates an interaction when you use a mirror that will get rid of any active Fears immediately.
• Sims Get No Fears: If you want to permanently get rid of Fears whilst retaining the impressive buffs of playing with Wants, this mod removes Fears from the game entirely.

Next: The Sims 4: How Occults Fit Into The World